1988 Ford F-150 Battery install gone wrong

Tiny
MATDAVIS721
  • MEMBER
  • 1988 FORD F-150
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
I was installing a battery into a 88 ford f150 and I was not thinking when I put the battery in and put the negative cable on first, and then touched the positive to the positive post. Once I touched the positive post with the positive cable it caused a wire near the ground on the side of the truck to go up in smoke. I was wondering what sort of damage would be caused by this? Also, if I needed to bring the truck into the shop or if this is a possible quick fix? Thank you for your time.

Matt Davis
Thursday, June 5th, 2008 AT 12:03 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Hi there,

If you have shorted the system out, hopefully you have just cooked the fusible link and blown a fuse. Worst case is a voltage spike and a damaged ECU. So I would get a qualified mechanic to inspect this for you.

Mark (mhpautos)
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Thursday, June 5th, 2008 AT 12:27 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links